


Pitchers and Thoughts

by eijunismybaby



Category: Free!, ダイヤのA | Daiya no A | Ace of Diamond
Genre: Break Downs, Multi, Smoking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:28:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28800603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eijunismybaby/pseuds/eijunismybaby
Summary: Nori and Eijun realize how fucked up both of them are.ON HIATUS
Relationships: Kawakami Norifumi & Sawamura Eijun, Nishino Risa/Sawamura Eijun, Sawamura Eijun/Everyone
Comments: 25
Kudos: 54





	1. Chapter 1

Nori sighed as he quietly closed the door to his room. He couldn't sleep. So midnight walks were the best options. What he didn't expect was to find Eijun standing there with a cigarette in his mouth. 

"Sawamura! You shouldn't have that!" the second year scolded as he walked up and grabbed the cancer stick from the southpaw's mouth.

Growing up with a dad who smoked all the time Nori knew how to put a cigarette out. He went to scold the first year but stopped when he noticed how dead the southpaw's eyes looked.

"Are you ok?" Nori asked.

"Senpai, does any of this feel right to you?"

Nori wanted to ask what that meant. But after today's events, he knew exactly what Eijun was talking about. Throughout the day Nori and Eijun were put off to the side while the focus was on Furuya and Tanba. Nori wasn't one to be jealous or mad. But it hurt. It hurt how hard he would work, only for it not even to get noticed.

"No, it doesn't" Nori landed saying.

Eijun pulled out the pack of cigarettes (which Nori questioned how he got that). He lit one and then offered Nori one.

"No, my roommates will smell it on me,"

It was quiet.

"Why are you smoking?" Nori asked.

Eijun shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't do it a lot, only when Kuramochi and Masuko senpai are passed out or when I just had a really bad day,"

 _"So you had it ruff today too?"_ Nori thought. 

"I just don't get it, we're good pitchers! Really good! We work so hard, why doesn't anyone care!" Eijun stated slightly yelling.

Nori just listened to Eijun's rant. It ended with a long talk.

"It look's like we're both fucked up," the southpaw joked.

They went back to being quiet, staring at the sky.

"Do you think anyone would notice, would even care if we weren't here?" Nori asked.

Eijun shook his head.

"They don't care, none of them do,"

Nori landed up taking that cigarette.

_ _ _ _

Practice was weird. Everyone knew something was wrong with the two pitchers.

"Is it just me or do they smell like cigarettes?" Miyuki asked Kuramochi.

"Yeah they do, Sawamura was out pretty late same with Nori,"

It was so tense. Eijun was quiet and Nori looked like the life was sucked out of him.

"Oi, what's wrong with you two?" Jun landed up asking during lunch.

"Why do you care?" Nori landed up replying.

He landed up grabbing his hair before apologizing.

"I'm sorry Senpai, I'm just stressed,"

Miyuki grabbed him before he could walkout.

"Does stressed mean you and Sawamura go out for a smoke last night?" The catcher said.

Nori's eyes widened and inside he cursed Eijun out for buying such a bad brand of cigarettes.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I went for a walk to tire myself out, never saw Sawamura last night," he stated.

"Bakamura, what about you? You stuck of a cigarette when you came back?" Kuramochi asked.

Eijun shrugged his shoulders.

"Eijun-Kun, did you actually smoke yesterday?" Haruichi asked.

"Yeah,"

"Is this some sort of rebellious phase? You two better not be next," Miyuki joked pointing at Furuya and Tanba, trying to lighten up the mood.

Nori walked out and Eijun lost followed.

They bought a vape pen that night.


	2. Chapter 2

Eijun didn't show up to practice, hell he didn't even go to school. According to Kuramochi and Masuko he went out in the morning and didn't come back.

"School I would understand, but baseball? He would never miss baseball!" Kanemaru said during dinner.

Nori sat in the corner, he knew where Eijun was. They talked about it the night before. Eijun wanted to test the waters and see if anyone would realize he was gone. Nori hated that the southpaw was right. No one noticed that he was gone till afternoon practice. The teachers obviously knew something about what Eijun was doing so they didn't point anything out. 

"Nori, did Sawamura say anything to you yesterday?" Miyuki asked and Nori shrugged his shoulders.

"He probably went and found a better catcher," the pitcher said under his breath.

Unfortunately for him, the dinning hall was unusually quiet due to the lack of sunshine southpaw and everyone heard him. They all stared at him and Nori rolled his eyes.

"What do you mean Nori? Are you saying Miyuki isn't a good catcher?" Chris asked.

"No, he's great in skill, just lacks in about everything else a good catcher needs,"

Kuramochi let out a howl and went to pat Nori on the back but the pitcher just moved.

"I'm not hungry anymore," he said as he placed his half eaten tray on the counter and left.

"Jeez Miyuki, what the hell did your shitty personality to that pissed off Nori," Jun muttered but Miyuki shook his head.

"I didn't do anything, I haven't even talked to him today,"

_ _ _ _ 

Nori knocked on the counselors door. He heard a quiet come in and turned the knob. Inside Eijun sat on the couch reading some sort of manga. The counselor sat at his desk smiling at Nori.

"Ah, Kawakami-Kun, I'm glad you made it on time this time," he said which made Nori turn red.

"Yeah, sorry about that Nanase-san," the pitcher mumbled before sitting on the couch causing Eijun to let out an oof.

"You know you can't just hide here all day," Nori told the southpaw who just whined.

"Sawamura-Kun, he's right, you are aloud to do this once in awhile, but not all the time," Nanase explained.

"But I like it here! You have snacks and no Natto!" Eijun said pumping up a fist.

Nanase let out a sigh before looking at Nori.

"How was your dinner?" he asked.

"Something that could belong in the Simpsons," Nori stated opening a back of chips.

"The Simpsons?" Eijun asked putting down his manga.

"Right, I forgot that you basically have no idea on what happens outside of Japan,"

"Mean Senpai!"

"Why don't you tell us what happened," the counselor said as he took out a notepad.

Nori gave a rundown which earned him a high-five from Eijun.

"Now I know you hold some resentment, but you're here to let that all out in this space, not in the dinning hall, I don't want to see you covered in bruises tomorrow," Nanase said sternly crossing his arms.

"Did they realize I was gone in the morning or later?" Eijun asked.

"Later,"

"I knew it!"

The counselor grew concerned. A team should know when a valuable member isn't at practice or school.

 _"Better talk to Kataoka about that,"_ he thought.

_ _ _ _

Nori and Eijun made their way back to the dorms. Nanase let them eat dinner in his office so they didn't have to worry about that.

"You want a cigarette?" the southpaw asked and Nori nodded.

They stood there in the corner quietly.

"Still can't believe Shisho said something to Rei-chan," Eijun muttered.

"I don't think it's that bad, Nanase-san is nice," Nori said.

"Yeah but he'll probably tell everything to everyone else,"

They heard a door opened and quickly stomped out the cancer sticks.

"Does anyone know where Nori ran off too?" they heard Kuramochi ask.

"Probably to get Sawamura out of whatever hole he hid in," Jun joked.

"Does anyone smell something burning?" Haruichi said and the two pitchers realized that they all stoped.

"Shit, I didn't stomp mine out properly," Eijun whispered and stomped as softly as he could.

The footsteps came towards them and they both knew that they were going to get caught.

"Eijun-Kun? Nori-Senpai?"

"There you are Bakamura!" Kuramochi said as he grabbed Eijun and out him in a wrestling position.

Ryosuke sniffed the air and smirked.

"Leave them Mochi, they smell like smoke," the third year stated.


	3. Chapter 3

"Ow! What the hell Sawamura!" Nori yelled rubbing his head after Eijun smacked him.

"That's what you get for not being Raichi's friend!" the southpaw said glaring at Nori.

"Sawamura-Kun, please sit down," Nanase said.

"He scared me! I felt bad afterwards!" Nori said trying to defend himself.

"Then go and apologize! He's really bad at communicating out of baseball! His only friends are Sanada-Senpai and me! You could be friends with Sanada-Senpai too!" Eijun complained.

Nori felt guilty. He knew what it was like to barely have friends.

"Fine, I'll talk to him and Sanada but you are coming with me!"

Nanase let out a sigh. This reminded him of when he was a teenager. 

"Why don't I arraigned something with Yakushi's councilor and you all can hang out," he offered.

That's how they landed up here. Nori and Eijun sat in a booth of a cafe across Sanada and Raichi. Raichi was trying to hide behind the ace and Sanada was just smiling. Nanase drove them all there and was currently watching them from the corner.

"So uh, I would like to personally apologize for being rude to you when you asked to be friends, I would like to be friends with you," Nori said smiling.

Sanada, who detected no fakeness in the pitcher nodded and moved over to Raichi could be seen. Nanase smiled when he saw the group was talking. He got up and went to the bathroom since he sensed no stress. 

"Nanase?"

Nanase froze as he looked up.

Sousuke

_ _ _ _ 

"You really called Miyuki a bad catcher?" Sanada asked laughing after Nori retold the events of the other day.

"I say it's well deserved," Eijun said crossing his arms.

Raichi was munching on a banana while listening to the conversation.

"But you skipped the whole day? How did you even get away with that?" Sanada asked and Eijun shrugged.

"Nanase helped with that a lot, he's really nice," 

"You took a whole week to open up him," Nori added in.

"And your always late to our meeting!" Eijun bit back.

"That's... That's not fair!"

Raichi was now laughing with them. Sanada was happy to see his kohei open up to others.

"Where did Nanase go?" Eijun asked when he saw his counselor wasn't there.

"Probably the bathroom," Nori said rolling the paper from the straws into balls.

"Ah shit,"

The second year was tugged under the table by the southpaw. Nori opened his mouth to say something but Eijun shushed him. He pointed up and they heard their teammates talking.

"Hey, isn't that Yakushi's ace?"

"Look Todoroki's with him,"

They watched as the first string member gather chairs and sat not that far from their table. A fork dropped onto the ground and Nori had to hold himself back from picking it up. Sanada bent down to pick it up.

"You two are lucky that you guys are fun size," the ace muttered and Eijun scowled.

"Hey Todoroki, how are you?"

Sanada landed up banging his head against table from being surprised. The southpaw gigled quietly. Raichi, being the innocent bean he is, pointed underneath the table. All of a sudden Kuramochi's head was there and Eijun and Nori just gave a nervous smile.

_ _ _ _ 


	4. Chapter 4

Nanase raised an eyebrow at the two pitchers fighting with each other. He was using it as a distraction from the restaurant's experience.

"It is so obvious she likes you! Ask her out you dunce!" Nori yelled shaking Eijun by the shoulders. 

"N-No! Her friends don't even like me! Girls always listen to their friends!" the southpaw declined, crossing his arms and turning red.

"Who is this girl that he likes?" Nanase asked Nori.

"Nishino Risa, a first-year in Sawamura's class,"

Eijun let out a strangled noise. 

"Oh, the girl who lends you manga? Didn't she become a cheerleader for you?" Nanase asked smirking slightly.

"Y-Yeah! She's really nice and-,"

"And she likes him, a lot, yet he's too scared to ask her out so do your job and help him conquer his fears!" Nori begged.

"You just quoted the poster didn't you?" 

"Not now!"

Nanase sighed as he shook his head.

"Fine, I'll help,"

_ _ _ _ 

"Haru!"

Nori and Eijun stood jaw dropped as a burgundy-colored hair girl came running at Nanase. She began to touch his muscles before giving him a tight hug.

"It's good to see you too Kou," Nanase murmured before being let go.

"Wow! You finally got a growth spurt! You are like an inch shorter than Sousuke!" Kou said excitedly hanging off of his arm.

Nori cleared his throat and Eijun was smiling at the two.

"Kou, these are Nori-Kun and Sawamura-Kun, they are students at the school I work at," Nanase explained.

"Aw, it's great you're working with kids! You were always so good with them!" Kou gushed.

"Kou they're teenagers,"

"Practically babies!"

Nanase sighed before getting back to the point.

"Look, you were always good with crushes and stuff, so do you mind helping us out here?" he asked and Kou nodded.

"Sure! But we need to talk after this," she stated with full seriousness.

Nanase nodded before letting Kou into his office.

"Ok, it seems like you two have a lot in common! Which is good! And she became a cheerleader for you? Why haven't you asked her out yet?" Kou asked spinning in Nanase's chair after hearing Eijun explain the situation.

"Thank you!" Nori exclaimed, putting his hands up in the air.

Eijun scowled.

"I'm just nervous! I'm not good with girls!" the southpaw said.

"Kanemaru said all the girls in your class fawn over you," Nori added in.

"Not true!"

_ _ _ _ 

Eijun and Nori stood behind the school early in the morning. After some talking from Kou, Eijun finally agreed to ask Nishino out. Nori lit a cigarette after taking the box away from Eijun.

"You can't smell like smoke before you ask a girl out, especially a girl like this so spray that fancy cologne that Chris-Senpai bought you and ask her out," the second year stated letting out a puff of smoke.

"Then move your head that way!"

Nori rolled his eyes but put the cigarette out.

"Nanase-san said he's going to get those smoking patches for us or something," he mumbled staring at the ground.

"And? Not like it'll work," Eijun said simply before checking the time.

"She should be on her way, I gotta go, keep the senpai distracted for me kay?" he asked before running off.

Nori gave thumbs up before letting out a chuckle. Eijun didn't have any gifts, what he did have was an invite to a manga cafe.

"Nishino! Do you have a sec?" Eijun asked when he saw her.

Nishino waved bye to her friends before walking over to the pitcher with a soft smile.

"Hey Sawamura!" she said before noticing how red he was.

"Are you ok? You look sick, if you're sick we can reschedule our manga meet today!" she offered, placing a hand on Eijun's forehead. 

"N-No! Actually, I wanted to ask you if you wanted to go to this manga cafe after school since practice is canceled," the southpaw stuttered.

Nishino now turned red.

"D-Do you mean like a date? Or just a hangout?"

"A date!" Eijun said excitedly before calming down. 

Nishino's face went even redder before she closed her eyes and nodded her head quickly. 

"Great!"

Nori stood behind the wall with his phone out. He managed to keep everyone else distracted by lying saying the practice was back on. 

_ _ _ _

"You little brat! You lied about practice and we were all almost late for class!" Jun yelled shaking Nori by the collar.

"What? I was sure that practice was back on! Whoops!" Nori said sarcastically before Chris made Jun put him down.

"Senpai, where Wamura?" Kanemaru asked.

"He's at the councilors office, which reminds me I have an appointment with the councilor that if I get late for again, I will of lunch dention so excuse me," Nori lied slipping through the crowd.

Nanase was waiting in his office with Kou sitting on the couch reading a magazine. Nori went red seeing that the magazine was all about boys muscles.

"Well, he asked her out, they are at a manga cafe and I'm tired so let me crash here before I can run over," the pitcher muttered throwing his bag to the ground and slumping on the bean bag.

"Aw, young love you know Haru I always though you and Makato would-,"

"Enough Kou," Nanase muttered but Noru caught on.

"Who's Makato?"


End file.
